Wire-uncoiling machine.



- W. E. COOK.

WIRE UNCOILING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED ocT.11. 1911.

Patented Aug. 12, 1919.

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Patented Aug. 12,1919.

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@uA/Wy A TORIVEY.

THB OLUMBIA mmoanPH CD.. WASHINGTON. D. C.

W. E. COOK.

lWIRE UNCOILING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 17| 19I7.

/odf UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM E. COOK, OF NEW YORK, N. Y. Y

WIRE-UNCOILING MACHINE. v

Application i'iled October 17. 1917.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, l/VILLIAM E. Coon, a subject of the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at St.

George, in the borough of Richmond, city of New York, county of Richmond, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vire-Uncoiling Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

My invention relates to Wire uncoiling machines and more particularly to a machine for holding the coils of wire and permitting the wire to be drawn therefrom, when it is being passed to a wire straightening machine, or to a wire rewinding machine, or when it is being rehandled for any purpose.

A machine made in accordance with my invention is so constructed as to receive a rough coil of wire, and to distend the coil in a manner to not only hold it in the distended position and prevent the entangling of diiferent loops of the coil, but in addition thereto, to place the loops of the coil under such stresses, diametrically thereof, as will tend to remove bends in the wire and facilitate the withdrawal of the wire from the machine in straightening, rewinding or otherwise rehandling it. A characteristic of my invention is an expansible holder for the coil, and actuating means therefor which will contract the holder to facilitate the mounting of the coil thereon, or expand the `holder and the coil in the manner above referred to. This expansibility of the holder further adapts the machine to various sizes of coils, within certain limits, although I provide in additionthereto interchangeable attachments for the holder by which the minimum and maximum diameter thereof may be varied.

The means for expanding and contracting the holder must be capable of being made inoperative to permit the removal of the wire from the machine through a free rotation of this holder. In conjunction with the holder I also provide a braking mechanism capable of being so set as to normally retard the rotation of the holder, means bein provided 'whereby the braking action may e increased te cheek any tendency` toward the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 12, 1919.

serial No. 197,018. v l

overrnnning of the holder under acquired momentumy in a manner to create slack, either in the wire already drawn from the machine, or in that remaining in the coil. A

The machine of myinvention is so yconstructed as to permit the rapid mounting of a. coil thereon and also to permit the expansion of the holder, manually.

My invention consists primarily in a wire uncoiling machine embodying therein a rotatable support, a plurality of plates mounted thereon and movable radially thereof and means whereby said plates may be simultaneously moved toward or away from the aXis of said support; and in such other novel features of construction and combination of parts as are hereinafter set forth and described and more particularly pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

Referring to the drawings,

Figure 1 isa side view of a machine embodying .my invention partly in lelevation and partly in section;

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is 'a section on ,the line 3 3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4: is a view of one of the coil holding plates with kthe attachment applied thereto v for adapting the machine to small coils; and

Fig. 5 is a detailed view of an attachment to be applied to each of said plates, for adapting the machine fork use with larger coi s.

Like letters refer to like the several views.

In the embodiment of my invention shown in the drawings, the pedestal of the machine is shown at a. Carried by the pedestal a and secured thereto in any desired manner is a shaft o the diameter of the upper end b of which is reduced as compared with said shaft b.

Rotatably mounted upon the shaft o is a support c, the rtop of the pedestal being parts throughout cupped to accommodate the lower end .of

- circumferentially about the axis of the shaft o, said ways having a pitch toward the top of said shaft b so as to secure'the wedging action hereinafter referred to. Mounted in each the ways cl is a plate c having a been ing face substantially parallel with the axis of the sha-ft b. Each of the plates c is provided withl a screw threaded boss f, and guide flanges g having a sliding t in the undercut ways l in the 'support' c. The support c is provided with a plurality of bearing bosses It in each of which is mounted the stem t" of a feed screw e' cooperating with the screw threads in the adjacent boss f. Secured to the feed screw t' in any desired manner is a gear j by means of which the feed screw may be actuated to cause movement of the plate e along its ways l in a Ina-nner to force said plate outwardly of the shaft c, or draw it inwardly thereof according tothe direction of movement of the plate.

To simultaneously actuate all of the plates e, I provide a gear 7c common to all of the gears j, said gear 7c being carried by the redueed'end b of the shaft b. Said gear k is held against rotation when it is desired to expand or contract the several plates and is permitted to rotate freely with the support c when uncoiling the wire. The gear 7c is loosely mounted upon the reduced end o of the shaft b and is provided with an opening through which, and an opening through the end b, a pin m is adapted to be slipped to hold said gear 7c against rotation.

Each of the plates c is provided with an angular yextension L6 adjacent the bottom thereof. Said extension forming a table upon which the coil of wire, encircling the bearing face of said plate may rest.

Mounted upon the pedestal a, is a cone brakeshoe n" adapted to bear upon a suitable face 0 formed adjacent the lower end of the support o. Said brake is normally held so as to have no braking action upon the Vsupport c, by the pins 29 connected with saidl cone and acted upon by the springs p to normally draw said cone downwardly. Said pins are slidably mounted in diametrically oppositebosses g against which the cone a is adapted to be normally seated. The cone shoe n may be so set as to exert sufficient braking action to either slightly retard the rotary movement of the support c or completely arrest this movement, and may be operated it a distance from the machine, thus permitting the attendant of another machine to Control the brake in a manner to prevent overrunning of the member c with a resultant creation of slack in the wire being drawn from about the plates c. The actuating mechanism for said brake, in the form of the invention shown in the drawings, comprises a double crank shaft -r mounted in a suitable boss 2^ upon the pedes- 'ral a, the arms of said shaft respectively being provided with an adjustable contact screw s to permit nicety in the adjustment of the brake mechanism. The shaft fr is also provided with a long crank arm t carrying a shackle t, to which a cord or rope may be connected, to permit the actuation of the brake mechanism at a point more or less remote from the machine.

lVhile the movement of the various plates e in the ways cl, will within certain limits adapt the machine for use with dilferent sizes of coils, I provide additional means in the form of attachments, which may be mounted upon the several plates c for adapt` ing the machine for use with coils of a din ameter greater or less than the diameter of the coils which may be used upon the plates e themselves. To permit the mounting of the attachments for coils of smaller diameter, I provide each of the plates e with a top flange c2 projecting inwardly of the machine, upon which top ange, an angular attachment u is adapted to seatl and to be secured, this attachment being in the form of a Z-plate having an extension u extending substantially parallel with the extension c.

To adapt the machine to coils of larger dimensions, I provide an angular attachment o one arm of which has a plurality of studs c thereon, the said studs being ,adapted to be connected by means of screws, or otherwise, to each plate c, and the other arm of which attachment is adapted to be connected, by screws` or otherwise, to the extension e.

It will be observed that with either of these attachments, as well as with the plates e themselves, there are no obstructions upon the outer face thereof which will interfere with the mounting` of a coil thereon, and that the movement of the plates e in their respective ways d, will ycontract and expand these attachments in the same manner and to the same extent as the plates c are contracted or expanded.

The operation of the herein described machine is substantially as follows Ordinarily wire particularly copper wire which is used as an electrical conductor, comes in coils which are more or less irregular in shape, and the wire of which is frequently badly bent. In preparing this wire for the application of insulation thereto, it is necessary to wind it upon a spool and before so winding it to pass it through a wire straightener to take out the various bends. rIbis' condition is particularly true with the heavierl conductor wires. The machine of the present invention was designed to facilitate the unwinding` of the coil of wire, while straightening and rewinding it, and in describing the operation of the machine, the above conditions will be had in mind.

When 'it is desired to straighten, or rewind, a coil of this wire, a pin my is passed through the openings in the hub of the gear 7: and in the reduced extension Z2 of the shaft Z), thus fixing said gear 7c in relation to said shaft. The support c is then spun to IOO the left (Fig. l) the planetary movement of the gears j about the gear 7c, turning the various feed screws t' in a manner to simultaneously move each of the plates e, through the medium of the boss f, thus bringing all of the plates e tov their uppermost posltion, as shown in Fig. 1. As the plates e ascend the pitch of the various ways d will gradually reduce the diameter of the support formed by all of said plates e and their extension e', said plate e having a parallel movement toward the axis of rotation of the support c. A coil of wire is then slipped over the various plates e ultimately coming to rest upon the extensions e.

When the coil of wire is thus mounted upon the extensions e', and about the plates e, the support 0 is turned to the right, (Fig. 1) the cooperating gears j and 7c turning the feed screws t' in the opposite direction and gradually forcing said plates e downwardly. During this movement the ways d exert a wedging action upon all of said plates, which expands the support formed by said plates and exerts such stresses within and outwardly of the coil as will tend to hold the coil in its entirety firmly upon the plates e and expand same in a manner to greatly facilitate the unwinding of the wire of the coil. When the coil has been distended tothe. desired extent, the pin m is removed from the hub of the gear 7c and the extension b of the shaft b, thus permitting the said gear/7c to turn freely upon said extension, so that a. rotary movement of the support c and its appurtenances when unwinding the co-il will impart no such movement to the screws z' as will result ina change in the adjustment of the various plates e. The operator may then draw the end of the wire from the coil, the arms and their support c turning freely under the stresses applied to the wire.

Since the straightening mechanism and the rewinding mechanism will ordinarily automatically feed the wire from a coil, an

, operator is required merely to watch these mechanisms and prevent such overrunning of the support c, as will create slack in the wire between the plates e and the straightening machine. By a judicial use of the brake mechanism, a substantial ypart of the curvature of the wire may be removed by the longitudinal stresses exerted on the wire between the arms and the straightening mechamsm.

The outward pressure exerted by the plates e upon the interior of the coi l, will prevent the slippage of the coil 1n1ts' entirety, about said plates, thus causing the unwinding of the wire of the coil to result from the rotation of the support c audits appurtenances.

The outer or bearing face of the several plates e is curved as shown in the drawings, to minimize any tendency of the expansion of the support forming sharp bends in the wire.

It will be observed that when expanding the holder formed by the various plates c, the weight of said plates and their appurtenances and of the coil of wire thereon, will assist in developing the power necessary to apply the desired pressure outwardly of the coil of wire.

In t-he accompanying drawings, I have shown a machine wherein the axis of rotation of the support c is vertical, but if desired, this axis might extend horizontally although the form of the invention shown is preferable as affording a more stable support for the coil of wire than is possible if the plates e alone are relied upon and there is less likelihood of the escape of the wire from said arms. Furthermore, gravity will assist in expanding the holder, as above stated.

It is not my intention to limit the invention to the details of construction shown in the accompanying drawings, it being apparent that such may be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

l Having described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to have protected by Letters Patent is:- A

1. A wire uncoiling machine embodying therein a. rotatable support having a plurality of'ways therein, said ways being grouped about, and extending obliquely to the axis of rotation of said support, plates extending substantially parallel with the axis of said support, slidably mounted in said inclined ways respectively, and means acting upon each of said plates whereby it may be moved in its ways in either direction to move it toward or from the axis of said support.

2. A wire uncoiling machine embodying therein a rotatable support having a plurality of inclined ways therein, saidways being grouped about, and extending obliquely to the axis of rotation of said support, plates extending substantially parallel with the axis of said support, slidably mounted in said inclined ways respectively, means acting upon each of said plates whereby it may be moved in its ways in either ldirection to move it toward or from the axis of said support, and means cooperating with all of said last named means to simultaneously actuate all of said plates.

3. A Wire uncoilingvmachine embodying therein a shaft, a support rotatably mounted thereon, said support having a plurality of inclined ways therein, plates extending subv stantially parallel with the axis of saidshaft, slidably mounted in` said inclined ways respectively, feed screws rotatably mounted in said support, and operatively connected with said plates respectively, a gear carried by each of said .feed screws, a

gear carried by said shaft in mesh with all of said first named gears, and means whereby said gear carried by said shaft may be held against movement upon said shaft, to cause the rotation of said support to actuate said feed screws to move each of said plates in its ways to move it toward or from said shaft, or be permitted to turn on said shaft, to allow said support to turn without actuating said plates.

4. A wire uncoiling machine embodying therein a rotatable support adapted to turn about a vertical axis, a plurality of subf stantially vertical plates mounted thereon, each of said plates having a horizontal extension projecting radially of the axis of said support and forming a table adapted to receive a coil of Wire, means whereby said plates may be moved radially of the axis of said support, and means whereby said plates may be simultaneously moved toward and from the axis of said support.

5. A wire uncoiling machine embodying therein a rotatable support adapted to turn about a verticalaxis and having a plurality of ways therein, substantially vertical plates slidably mounted in said ways respectively, each of said plates having a horizontal extension projecting radially of the axis of said support and forming a table adapted to receive a coil of wire, and means acting upon each of said plates whereby it may be moved in its ways in either direction to move it toward or from the axis of said support.

6. A wire uncoiling machine embodying therein a rotatable support adapted to turn about a vertical axis and having aplurality of ways therein, substantially vertical plates slidably mounted in said ways respectively each of said plates having a horizontal eX- tension projecting radially of the axis of said support and forming a table adapted to receive a coil of wire, means acting upon each of said plates whereby it may be moved in its ways in either direction to move it toward or from the axis of said support, and means cooperating with all of said last named means to simultaneously actuate all of said plates.

7.`A wire uncoiling machine embodying therein a substantially vertical shaft, a support rotatably mounted thereon, said support having a plurality of inclined ways therein substantially vertical plates slidably mounted in said ways respectively, each of said plates having a horizontal extension projecting radially of said shaft, feed screws rotatably mounted in said support and operatively connected with said plates respectively, a gear carried by each of said feed screws, a gear carried by said shaft in mesh with all of said first named gears, and means whereby said gear carried by said shaft may be held against movement upon said shaft,

to cause the rotation of said support to acshaft, to allow said support to turn without actuating said plates. y l

8. A wire uncoiling machine embodying therein a shaft, a support rotatably mounted thereon, said support having a plurality of inclined ways therein, plates extending substantiallyparallel with the axis of said shaft, slidably mounted in said inclined ways respectively, feed screws rotatably mounted in said support, and operatively connected with said plates respectively, a gear carried by each of said feed screws, a gear carried by said shaftin mesh with all of said first named gears, means whereby said gear carried by said shaft may be held against movement upon said shaft, to cause the yrotation of said support to actuate said feed screws to move each of said plates in its ways to move it toward or from said shaft, or be permitted to turn on said shaft, to allow said support` to turn without actuating said plates, and a brake mechanism operative upon said support.

9. A wire uncoiling machine embodying therein a pedestal, a vertical shaft carried thereby, a support rotatably mounted upon said shaft, said support having a face within same adjacent the bottom thereof, and a plurality of inclined ways thereinfa cone brake-shoe adjacent said face, springs adapted to normally withdraw said brake-shoe from its operative engagement with said face, an actuating lever operative to set said brake-shoe, a crank carried thereby, said crankl being provided with means whereby a cord or rope may bey connected therewith to permit the setting of the brake from a point distant from the machine, substantially vertical plates slidably mounted in said ways respectively, each of said plates having a horizontal extension projecting radially of said shaft, feed screws rotatably mounted in said support and operatively connected with said plates respectively, a gear carried by each of said feed screws, a gear carried by said shaft in mesh with all of said first named gears, and means whereby said gear carried by said shaft may be held against movement upon said shaft, to cause the rotation of said support to actuate said feed screws to move each of said plates in its ways to move it toward .or from said shaft, or be permitted to turn on said shaft, to allow said support to turn without actuating said plates.

1-0. A wire uncoiling machine embodying therein a rotatable support, a plurality of plates mounted therein and movable radially thereof, and means whereby said plates may be simultaneously moved toward and from the axis of said support, said plates being adapted to receive an attachment at ing Witnesses, this 28th day of September, the top thereof, and upon the outer face 1917. thereof to adapt the machine to coils of lesser or greater diameter than is Within WLLIAM E" COOK' 5 the operative range of said plate. Witnesses:

In Witness whereof, I hereunto a-iiix my CLARICE FRANCK, signature in the presence of two subscrib- BERTHA MUEILER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, ID. G. 

